Vehicle safety system for controlling a safety feature

ABSTRACT

A safety system for a vehicle includes an imaging sensor configured to be disposed at a vehicle so as to have an exterior field of view external of the equipped vehicle. An image processor is operable to process image data captured by the imaging sensor to detect a vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if a collision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending. Responsive to such determination of the pending collision, a safety feature of the vehicle is triggered before impact occurs. Responsive at least in part to processing by the image processor of captured image data to determine if a collision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, the safety system takes into account if a determined impact speed of the detected vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle is above a threshold level.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/929,493, filed Nov. 2, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,908,495,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/653,577,filed Oct. 17, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,174,574, which claims thefiling benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 61/548,902,filed Oct. 19, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to imaging systems or vision systems forvehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Use of imaging sensors in vehicle imaging systems is common and known.Examples of such known systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,949,331; 5,670,935 and/or 5,550,677, which are hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a vision system or imaging system for avehicle that utilizes one or more cameras to capture images exterior ofthe vehicle, such as rearwardly of the vehicle, and provides thecommunication/data signals, including camera data or image data that isprocessed and, responsive to such image processing, a vehicle safetysystem is operable to provide a vehicle safety feature, such asadjustment of a vehicle headrest or the like, so as to properly positionthe headrest in response to a detection of an imminent rear collision.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of thepresent invention will become apparent upon review of the followingspecification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a vehicle with a vision system and imagingsensor or camera that provides an exterior field of view for a vehiclesafety system in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a vehicle safety system in accordance with thepresent invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings and the illustrative embodiments depictedtherein, a vehicle 10 includes an imaging system or vision system 12that includes at least one imaging sensor or camera (such as a rearwardfacing imaging sensor or camera 14 a and/or optionally such as aforwardly facing camera 14 b at the front (or at the windshield) of thevehicle, and/or a rearwardly and/or sidewardly facing camera 14 c, 14 bat the sides of the vehicle), which captures images exterior of thevehicle, and a vehicle safety system 16 (FIG. 1). The vision system 12is operable to process image data captured by the camera (such as therearwardly facing camera 14 a) to detect a rearwardly approachingvehicle or object and to determine if and when the approaching vehicleor object is going to impact or collide with the subject vehicle. Thesafety system 16, responsive to an output of the vision system that isindicative of a detection of a pending or imminent or likely orpotential rear collision by an object or vehicle rearward of the subjectvehicle (such as an object approaching the subject vehicle from the rearor an object that the subject vehicle is approaching during a reversingmaneuver), is operable to adjust the headrest or headrests 18 of thevehicle 10 to reduce potential harm to the occupant of the subjectvehicle during such a rear collision, as discussed below.

As with all passive safety restraint functions in a vehicle, a concernis to detect a pending or imminent impact or collision fast enough toprovide time to deploy countermeasures, such as restraints and the like,to protect the occupant. Because impact-based sensors only react afterthe actual impact occurs, the restraints have to be deployed within avery short time frame (in the range of 10 ms or thereabouts) so as to bein place before the occupant has moved too much in relation to thevehicle to enable an efficient and effective restraint or safety system.Thus, it is desirable that a collision or impact detection occur earlyenough to be able to use the detection to activate or commence safetymeasures.

Rear vision cameras are becoming standard equipment on many vehicles inthe United States and such rear vision cameras or backup assist camerasare likely to proliferate to other regions as well. The presentinvention utilizes such a rear vision camera for pre-impact collisiondetection (such as via image processing of image data captured by arearward facing camera to detect an approaching vehicle or object to therear of the subject or host vehicle), and utilizes such pre-impactcollision or imminent collision detection to provide a safety featureand/or passenger restraint feature and/or the like.

For example, a rearward facing pixelated imaging array or rearviewcamera may be disposed at the rear of a vehicle and may have a wideangle rearward field of view rearward of the subject vehicle. The imagedata captured by the camera (of the scene occurring rearwardly of thevehicle and in the rearward field of view of the camera) can be used todetect an imminent collision or impact (before the collision or impactactually occurs) by utilizing a vehicle detection algorithm or objectdetection algorithm to process the captured image data. The dataprocessing and object detection and imminent collision or impactdetection can be used to trigger a safety feature or the like. Thus,important safety features or benefits can be added to a vehicle withoutthe need for any costly additional hardware or electronic components.

If the detection is early enough (pre-impact), the system may trigger oractivate a restraint system that may use a less severe (slower and lessenergy) and less costly and reversible activation principle. Forexample, and with reference to FIG. 2, the rearward facing camera 14 aand image processing of image data captured by the rearward facingcamera may detect a rearwardly approaching object or vehicle and maydetermine if a collision or impact is likely or imminent or unavoidableor substantially unavoidable. For example, the system may be operable todetect a rapidly approaching object or vehicle in the camera's field ofview, and optionally may take into account the size and/or shape and/orspeed of the detected object/vehicle and/or the distance to the detectedobject/vehicle from the subject vehicle and/or the rate of approach ofthe detected object/vehicle towards the subject vehicle in determiningwhether or not the detected object is potentially a vehicle or largeobject that may harm the driver and/or passenger of the subject vehicleif an impact occurs. If the system determines that the detected objector vehicle is going to impact or is likely to impact the subject vehiclein such a way that may harm the driver and/or passenger (such as at animpact speed relative to the subject vehicle that is above a thresholdlevel), the system may generate an alert or signal indicative of animminent collision or impact. Responsive to such a signal, a passengerrestraint system, such as a movable headrest system or the like, may betriggered or activated to move the headrest 18 (or portion of theheadrest) forward and towards the then current location of the driver'sor passenger's head so that, when the impact occurs, the rearward travelof the driver's or passenger's head is reduced or limited by the forwardposition of the headrest.

The rearward facing camera and the object or vehicle detection algorithmthus function to detect an imminent collision or impact and provide anactivation output to a headrest restraint or adjustable headrestfunction before the impact occurs. The headrest or headrests are thusmoved to a forward position just prior to the impact so that therearward travel of the occupant's head is limited by the forwardposition of the headrest when the rear impact occurs. Optionally, thesafety system may also be responsive to a seat occupancy detectionsystem and may only adjust or move the headrest or headrests of a seator seats that is/are occupied at the time that the imminent collision orimpact is detected.

Optionally, other passenger restraints or safety features may betriggered or activated responsive to such a detection of an imminentcollision or impact. For example, seat belts may be locked or restrainedjust prior to impact or airbags may be readied or “warmed up” fordeployment (preferably without actually deploying the airbags untilimpact in case the impact is avoided) and/or the like.

Optionally, the image based pre-impact collision detection and outputsignal may be used as a part of other vehicle systems or of an overallsafety system of the vehicle. For example, the detection and outputsystem of the present invention may be used as a stand-alone system, aconfirmation only sensor as part of a safety system, fusion of the imagedata output with other sensing systems such as, for example, ultrasonicsensing systems, pressure sensing systems and/or accelerometers and/orthe like.

Optionally, the vision and safety system may be deactivated or the logicof the activation or operation may change when the reverse gear of thevehicle is engaged (indicating that a reversing maneuver is beingundertaken by the driver of the vehicle). The system thus may actuate orcontrol the safety feature (such as adjustment or movement of aheadrest) further responsive to a signal or input indicative of thevehicle being shifted into a reverse gear. Optionally, when the vehicleis executing such a reversing maneuver, or when the vehicle is beingdriven down the road and a following vehicle is closely following ortailgating the subject vehicle, the system may function to generate analert (such as a visual alert or tactile alert or audible alert) toalert the driver of the subject vehicle of a detected object or vehiclerearward of the subject vehicle. For example, the headrest may be movedforward (or optionally may be vibrated or otherwise moved or adjusted,such as via a vibrating element disposed at or in the headrest, oroptionally may include a speaker or the like that is operable togenerate an audible alert at the headrest) to provide a tactile orhaptic alert to the driver to alert the driver that a rearward objecthas been detected, such as when the driver is reversing the vehicle andthe system detects an object rearward of the subject vehicle and in thereversing path of the subject vehicle (and/or such as when the systemdetects an object or other vehicle closely following the subject vehicleand/or such as when the system detects an object or other vehicleapproaching the subject vehicle from the rear at an approach rate orspeed that is greater than a threshold approach rate). Such a headrestactivation or control may utilize already existing cameras and imageprocessor and headrest controls (which may adjust the position of theheadrest responsive to a user input as part of a seat adjustmentsystem), so that the safety/alert system may be provided without asignificant cost increase to the vehicle manufacturer.

Optionally, the safety/alert system of the present invention may beoperable to detect an approaching object or vehicle to the rear of thesubject vehicle and, responsive to a determination of a rear collision,the safety/alert system may be operable to communicate with a telematicssystem of the vehicle. For example, the safety/alert system may contacta remote service provider or emergency service to alert the service ofan accident so that emergency vehicles may be sent to the accident toprovide the appropriate emergency services to the accident site as soonas possible. Optionally, the alert system may be operable to report theseverity of the accident and may (such as via the speakers andmicrophones of the vehicle's telematics system) attempt to contact thevehicle occupants to determine the nature of any potential injuries. Thesystem of the present invention thus may provide rear accident detectionand may alert a remote service provider accordingly. Such an alert maybe made independent of any deployment of airbags or the like (during arear end collision, the airbags may not be deployed and thus knownemergency telematics systems may not be responsive to such rear endcollisions). The system may have connection to the telematics systemwith data download at Ignition off for the system and its rear camera.

Therefore, the present invention provides a vision system that isoperable to detect a rearwardly approaching object or vehicle and thatis operable to determine if the detected object or vehicle is likely toimpact or collide with the rear of the subject vehicle. If such apending collision is determined, the system generates a signal or outputthat actuates or triggers a safety feature of the vehicle so that thesafety feature is activated before the actual impact occurs. Preferably,the triggered safety feature is a reversible feature (such as adjustmentof the headrest or seat belt or seat setting or door locks or the like),such that if the collision is avoided or otherwise does not occur, thesystem can return the adjusted component or accessory (such as theheadrest or seat belt or seat or door lock) to its normal position orsetting (the position or setting that it was in prior to the detectionof the imminent collision or impact).

The imaging sensor or camera that captures the image data for imageprocessing may comprise any suitable camera or sensing device, such as,for example, an array of a plurality of photosensor elements arranged in640 columns and 480 rows (a 640×480 imaging array), with a respectivelens focusing images onto respective portions of the array. Thephotosensor array may comprise a plurality of photosensor elementsarranged in a photosensor array having rows and columns. The logic andcontrol circuit of the imaging sensor may function in any known manner,such as in the manner described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897;6,498,620; 5,670,935; 5,796,094 and/or 6,396,397, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/696,416, filed Sep. 4, 2012; Ser.No. 61/682,995, filed Aug. 14, 2012; Ser. No. 61/682,486, filed Aug. 13,2012; Ser. No. 61/680,883, filed Aug. 8, 2012; Ser. No. 61/678,375,filed Aug. 1, 2012; Ser. No. 61/676,405, filed Jul. 27, 2012; Ser. No.61/666,146, filed Jun. 29, 2012; Ser. No. 61/653,665, filed May 31,2012; Ser. No. 61/653,664, filed May 31, 2012; Ser. No. 61/648,744,filed May 18, 2012; Ser. No. 61/624,507, filed Apr. 16, 2012; Ser. No.61/616,126, filed Mar. 27, 2012; Ser. No. 61/615,410, filed Mar. 26,2012; Ser. No. 61/613,651, filed Mar. 21, 2012; Ser. No. 61/607,229,filed Mar. 6, 2012; Ser. No. 61/605,409, filed Mar. 1, 2012; Ser. No.61/602,878, filed Feb. 24, 2012; Ser. No. 61/602,876, filed Feb. 24,2012; Ser. No. 61/600,205, filed Feb. 17, 2012; Ser. No. 61/588,833,filed Jan. 20, 2012; Ser. No. 61/583,381, filed Jan. 5, 2012; Ser. No.61/579,682, filed Dec. 23, 2011; Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13,2011; Ser. No. 61/568,791, filed Dec. 9, 2011; Ser. No. 61/567,446,filed Dec. 6, 2011; Ser. No. 61/559,970, filed Nov. 15, 2011; and/orSer. No. 61/552,167, filed Oct. 27, 2011, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/CA2012/000378, filed Apr. 25, 2012, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2012/056014, filed Sep. 19, 2012, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2012/048800, filed Jul. 30, 2012, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2012/048110, filed Jul. 25, 2012, and/or U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/534,657, filed Jun. 27, 2012 and published Jan. 3, 2013 asU.S. Publication No. US-2013-0002873, which are all hereby incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties. The system may communicate withother communication systems via any suitable means, such as by utilizingaspects of the systems described in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/038477,filed Jun. 14, 2010, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/202,005,filed Aug. 17, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,126,525, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 61/650,667, filed May 23, 2012; Ser.No. 61/579,682, filed Dec. 23, 2011; Ser. No. 61/565,713, filed Dec. 1,2011, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

The imaging device and control and image processor and any associatedillumination source, if applicable, may comprise any suitablecomponents, and may utilize aspects of the cameras and vision systemsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,877,897; 6,498,620; 5,670,935;5,796,094; 6,396,397; 6,806,452; 6,690,268; 7,005,974; 7,123,168;7,004,606; 6,946,978; 7,038,577; 6,353,392; 6,320,176; 6,313,454 and6,824,281, and/or International Publication No. WO 2010/099416,published Sep. 2, 2010, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filedAug. 31, 2010, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/508,840, filedJul. 24, 2009, and published Jan. 28, 2010 as U.S. Pat. Publication No.US 2010-0020170; and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048110, filedJul. 25, 2012, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/534,657, filedJun. 27, 2012 and published Jan. 3, 2013 as U.S. Publication No.US-2013-0002873, which are all hereby incorporated herein by referencein their entireties. The camera or cameras may comprise any suitablecameras or imaging sensors or camera modules, and may utilize aspects ofthe cameras or sensors described in U.S. patent applications, Ser. No.12/091,359, filed Apr. 24, 2008 and published Oct. 1, 2009 as U.S.Publication No. US-2009-0244361; and/or Ser. No. 13/260,400, filed Sep.26, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,542,451, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,965,336and/or 7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The imaging array sensor may comprise any suitablesensor, and may utilize various imaging sensors or imaging array sensorsor cameras or the like, such as a CMOS imaging array sensor, a CCDsensor or other sensors or the like, such as the types described in U.S.Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,715,093; 5,877,897;6,922,292; 6,757,109; 6,717,610; 6,590,719; 6,201,642; 6,498,620;5,796,094; 6,097,023; 6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 6,806,452;6,396,397; 6,822,563; 6,946,978; 7,339,149; 7,038,577; 7,004,606;7,720,580 and/or 7,965,336, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2008/076022, filed Sep. 11, 2008 and published Mar. 19, 2009 asInternational Publication No. WO/2009/036176, and/or PCT Application No.PCT/US2008/078700, filed Oct. 3, 2008 and published Apr. 9, 2009 asInternational Publication No. WO/2009/046268, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

The camera module and circuit chip or board and imaging sensor may beimplemented and operated in connection with various vehicularvision-based systems, and/or may be operable utilizing the principles ofsuch other vehicular systems, such as a vehicle headlamp control system,such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,796,094; 6,097,023;6,320,176; 6,559,435; 6,831,261; 7,004,606; 7,339,149 and/or 7,526,103,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a rain sensor, such as the types disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,353,392; 6,313,454; 6,320,176 and/or7,480,149, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties, a vehicle vision system, such as a forwardly, sidewardly orrearwardly directed vehicle vision system utilizing principles disclosedin U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,677; 5,670,935; 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 5,949,331;6,222,447; 6,302,545; 6,396,397; 6,498,620; 6,523,964; 6,611,202;6,201,642; 6,690,268; 6,717,610; 6,757,109; 6,802,617; 6,806,452;6,822,563; 6,891,563; 6,946,978 and/or 7,859,565, which are all herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a trailer hitchingaid or tow check system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.7,005,974, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety, a reverse or sideward imaging system, such as for a lanechange assistance system or lane departure warning system or for a blindspot or object detection system, such as imaging or detection systems ofthe types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,720,580; 7,038,577; 5,929,786and/or 5,786,772, and/or U.S. patent applications, Ser. No. 11/239,980,filed Sep. 30, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,881,496, and/or U.S.provisional applications, Ser. No. 60/628,709, filed Nov. 17, 2004; Ser.No. 60/614,644, filed Sep. 30, 2004; Ser. No. 60/618,686, filed Oct. 14,2004; Ser. No. 60/638,687, filed Dec. 23, 2004, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties, a video device forinternal cabin surveillance and/or video telephone function, such asdisclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,760,962; 5,877,897; 6,690,268 and/or7,370,983, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filedJun. 13, 2005 and published Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0050018, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties, a traffic sign recognition system, a system fordetermining a distance to a leading or trailing vehicle or object, suchas a system utilizing the principles disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,396,397 and/or 7,123,168, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and/or the like.

Optionally, the circuit board or chip may include circuitry for theimaging array sensor and or other electronic accessories or features,such as by utilizing compass-on-a-chip or EC driver-on-a-chip technologyand aspects such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,451 and/or U.S.Pat. No. 7,480,149; and/or U.S. patent applications, Ser. No.11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S.Publication No. US-2006-0061008, and/or Ser. No. 12/578,732, filed Oct.14, 2009 and published Apr. 22, 2010 as U.S. Publication No.US-2010-0097469, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

Optionally, the vision system may include a display for displayingimages captured by one or more of the imaging sensors for viewing by thedriver of the vehicle while the driver is normally operating thevehicle. Optionally, for example, the vision system may include a videodisplay device disposed at or in the interior rearview mirror assemblyof the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the video mirror displaysystems described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,690,268 and/or U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21, 2011 and published Jun.28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No. US-2012-0162427, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The video mirrordisplay may comprise any suitable devices and systems and optionally mayutilize aspects of the compass display systems described in U.S. Pat.Nos. 7,370,983; 7,329,013; 7,308,341; 7,289,037; 7,249,860; 7,004,593;4,546,551; 5,699,044; 4,953,305; 5,576,687; 5,632,092; 5,677,851;5,708,410; 5,737,226; 5,802,727; 5,878,370; 6,087,953; 6,173,508;6,222,460; 6,513,252 and/or 6,642,851, and/or European patentapplication, published Oct. 11, 2000 under Publication No. EP 0 1043566,and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/226,628, filed Sep. 14, 2005and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0061008,which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties. Optionally, the video mirror display screen or device may beoperable to display images captured by a rearward viewing camera of thevehicle during a reversing maneuver of the vehicle (such as responsiveto the vehicle gear actuator being placed in a reverse gear position orthe like) to assist the driver in backing up the vehicle, and optionallymay be operable to display the compass heading or directional headingcharacter or icon when the vehicle is not undertaking a reversingmaneuver, such as when the vehicle is being driven in a forwarddirection along a road (such as by utilizing aspects of the displaysystem described in PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/056295, filed Oct.14, 2011 and published Apr. 19, 2012 as International Publication No. WO2012/051500, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety).

Optionally, the vision system (utilizing the forward facing camera and arearward facing camera and other cameras disposed at the vehicle withexterior fields of view) may be part of or may provide a display of atop-down view or birds-eye view system of the vehicle or a surround viewat the vehicle, such as by utilizing aspects of the vision systemsdescribed in PCT Application No. PCT/US10/25545, filed Feb. 26, 2010 andpublished on Sep. 2, 2010 as International Publication No. WO2010/099416, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US10/47256, filed Aug. 31,2010 and published Mar. 10, 2011 as International Publication No. WO2011/028686, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US11/62755, filed Dec. 1,2011 and published Jun. 7, 2012 as International Publication No. WO2012-075250, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/US2012/048993, filed Jul.31, 2012, and/or PCT Application No. PCT/CA2012/000378, filed Apr. 25,2012, and/or U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/333,337, filed Dec. 21,2011 and published Jun. 28, 2012 as U.S. Publication No.US-2012-0162427, and/or U.S. provisional applications, Ser. No.61/615,410, filed Mar. 26, 2012; Ser. No. 61/588,833, filed Jan. 20,2012; Ser. No. 61/570,017, filed Dec. 13, 2011; Ser. No. 61/568,791,filed Dec. 9, 2011; Ser. No. 61/559,970, filed Nov. 15, 2011; Ser. No.61/540,256, filed Sep. 28, 2011, which are hereby incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

Optionally, the video mirror display may be disposed rearward of andbehind the reflective element assembly and may comprise a display suchas the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,530,240; 6,329,925;7,855,755; 7,626,749; 7,581,859; 7,446,650; 7,370,983; 7,338,177;7,274,501; 7,255,451; 7,195,381; 7,184,190; 5,668,663; 5,724,187 and/or6,690,268, and/or in U.S. patent applications, Ser. No. 12/091,525,filed Apr. 25, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,855,755; Ser. No. 11/226,628,filed Sep. 14, 2005 and published Mar. 23, 2006 as U.S. Publication No.US-2006-0061008; and/or Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare all hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Thedisplay is viewable through the reflective element when the display isactivated to display information. The display element may be any type ofdisplay element, such as a vacuum fluorescent (VF) display element, alight emitting diode (LED) display element, such as an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) or an inorganic light emitting diode, anelectroluminescent (EL) display element, a liquid crystal display (LCD)element, a video screen display element or backlit thin film transistor(TFT) display element or the like, and may be operable to displayvarious information (as discrete characters, icons or the like, or in amulti-pixel manner) to the driver of the vehicle, such as passenger sideinflatable restraint (PSIR) information, tire pressure status, and/orthe like. The mirror assembly and/or display may utilize aspectsdescribed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,184,190; 7,255,451; 7,446,924 and/or7,338,177, which are all hereby incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties. The thicknesses and materials of the coatings on thesubstrates of the reflective element may be selected to provide adesired color or tint to the mirror reflective element, such as a bluecolored reflector, such as is known in the art and such as described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,854; 6,420,036 and/or 7,274,501, which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Optionally, the display or displays and any associated user inputs maybe associated with various accessories or systems, such as, for example,a tire pressure monitoring system or a passenger air bag status or agarage door opening system or a telematics system or any other accessoryor system of the mirror assembly or of the vehicle or of an accessorymodule or console of the vehicle, such as an accessory module or consoleof the types described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,289,037; 6,877,888;6,824,281; 6,690,268; 6,672,744; 6,386,742 and 6,124,886, and/or U.S.patent application Ser. No. 10/538,724, filed Jun. 13, 2005 andpublished Mar. 9, 2006 as U.S. Publication No. US-2006-0050018, whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications to the specifically described embodiments maybe carried out without departing from the principles of the presentinvention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of theappended claims as interpreted according to the principles of patentlaw.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A safety system for a vehicle, said safetysystem comprising: an imaging sensor configured to be disposed at avehicle equipped with said safety system so as to have a field of viewexterior of the equipped vehicle; said imaging sensor, with said imagingsensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, capturing image data; an imageprocessor operable to process image data captured, with said imagingsensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, by said imaging sensor todetect a vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if acollision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending; wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, and responsive at least in part to processing by said imageprocessor of image data captured by said imaging sensor, and responsiveto such determination of the pending collision with a reverse gear ofthe vehicle not engaged, a safety feature of the vehicle is triggeredbefore impact occurs; wherein the triggered safety feature comprises areversible adjustment of a door lock of the equipped vehicle to anadjusted condition; wherein, if the pending collision is avoided orotherwise does not occur, the door lock returns to its unadjustedcondition that existed prior to such determination of the pendingcollision; and wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at theequipped vehicle, and responsive at least in part to processing by saidimage processor of image data captured by said imaging sensor to detectthe vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if acollision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending, said safety system takes into account if a determined impactspeed of the detected vehicle relative to the equipped vehicle is abovea threshold level.
 2. The safety system of claim 1, wherein said safetysystem reversibly adjusts a position of a seat headrest of the equippedvehicle responsive to such determination of the pending collision. 3.The safety system of claim 2, wherein said safety system reversiblymoves the seat headrest forward to limit rearward movement of anoccupant's head should the collision with the detected vehicle occur. 4.The safety system of claim 3, wherein said safety system reversiblyadjusts the position of the seat headrest responsive to detection thatthe seat is occupied by an occupant of the vehicle.
 5. The safety systemof claim 1, wherein said safety system reversibly adjusts a position ofa seat headrest of the equipped vehicle responsive to such determinationof the pending collision and responsive to detection that the seat isoccupied by an occupant of the vehicle.
 6. The safety system of claim 5,wherein an alert is provided to the seat occupant responsive to suchdetermination of the pending collision.
 7. The safety system of claim 6,wherein said safety system reversibly moves the seat headrest forward tolimit rearward movement of the seat occupant's head should the collisionwith the detected vehicle occur.
 8. The safety system of claim 1,wherein said safety system is operable to wirelessly communicate analert to a receiver that is remote and distant from the equippedvehicle, and wherein said safety system wirelessly communicates thealert responsive to such determination of the pending collision.
 9. Thesafety system of claim 8, wherein said receiver comprises at least oneof a remote service provider and an emergency service.
 10. The safetysystem of claim 1, wherein said imaging sensor is configured to bedisposed at a rearward portion of the equipped vehicle.
 11. The safetysystem of claim 10, wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at therearward portion of the equipped vehicle, said image processor processesimage data captured by said imaging sensor to detect the vehicleexterior the equipped vehicle and approaching from rearward of theequipped vehicle.
 12. The safety system of claim 11, wherein an alert orsignal indicative of an imminent collision or impact is generatedresponsive to determination of a pending collision with the detectedvehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and approaching from rearward ofthe equipped vehicle.
 13. The safety system of claim 1, wherein saidimaging sensor is configured to be disposed at a forward portion of theequipped vehicle.
 14. The safety system of claim 1, wherein said imagingsensor is part of a multi-camera vision system of the equipped vehicle,the multi-camera vision system comprising at least a rear-mounted camerathat comprises said imaging sensor, a front-mounted camera, adriver-side camera disposed at a driver side portion of the equippedvehicle and a passenger-side camera disposed at a passenger side portionof the equipped vehicle.
 15. The safety system of claim 1, wherein saidimage processor, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, and when processing image data captured by said imaging sensorto detect the vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine ifa collision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending, takes into account rate of approach to the equipped vehicle ofthe detected vehicle in determining whether or not the vehicle may harma driver and/or passenger of the equipped vehicle if an impact occurs.16. The safety system of claim 1, wherein said image processor, withsaid imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, and whenprocessing image data captured by said imaging sensor to detect thevehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if a collisionbetween the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, takesinto account distance from the equipped vehicle to the detected vehiclein determining whether or not the vehicle may harm a driver and/orpassenger of the equipped vehicle if an impact occurs.
 17. The safetysystem of claim 1, wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at theequipped vehicle, in determining if a collision between the detectedvehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, captured image data isfused with data captured by a sensing system of the equipped vehicle.18. The safety system of claim 17, wherein said sensing system of theequipped vehicle comprises an ultrasonic sensing system.
 19. A safetysystem for a vehicle, said safety system comprising: an imaging sensorconfigured to be disposed at a vehicle equipped with said safety systemso as to have a field of view exterior of the equipped vehicle; saidimaging sensor, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, capturing image data; an image processor operable to processimage data captured, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, by said imaging sensor to detect a vehicle exterior theequipped vehicle and to determine if a collision between the detectedvehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending; wherein, with said imagingsensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, and responsive at least in partto processing by said image processor of image data captured by saidimaging sensor, and responsive to such determination of the pendingcollision with a reverse gear of the vehicle not engaged, a safetyfeature of the vehicle is triggered before impact occurs; wherein thetriggered safety feature comprises a reversible feature selected fromthe group consisting of (i) a reversible adjustment of a seat headrestof the equipped vehicle to an adjusted condition, (ii) a reversibleadjustment of a seat belt of the equipped vehicle to an adjustedcondition and (iii) a reversible adjustment of a seat setting of theequipped vehicle to an adjusted condition; wherein, if the pendingcollision is avoided or otherwise does not occur, the adjusted safetyfeature returns to its unadjusted condition that existed prior to suchdetermination of the pending collision; wherein operation of the safetyfeature changes when the reverse gear of the vehicle is engaged; whereinsaid image processor, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, and when processing image data captured by said imaging sensorto detect the vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine ifa collision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending, takes into account if a determined impact speed of the detectedvehicle relative to the equipped vehicle is above a threshold level; andwherein said safety system is operable to wirelessly communicate analert to a receiver that is remote and distant from the equippedvehicle, and wherein said safety system wirelessly communicates thealert responsive to such determination of the pending collision.
 20. Thesafety system of claim 19, wherein said receiver comprises at least oneof a remote service provider and an emergency service.
 21. The safetysystem of claim 19, wherein said image processor, with said imagingsensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, and when processing image datacaptured by said imaging sensor to detect the vehicle exterior theequipped vehicle and to determine if a collision between the detectedvehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, takes into account rate ofapproach to the equipped vehicle of the detected vehicle in determiningwhether or not the vehicle may harm a driver and/or passenger of theequipped vehicle if an impact occurs.
 22. The safety system of claim 19,wherein said image processor, with said imaging sensor disposed at theequipped vehicle, and when processing image data captured by saidimaging sensor to detect the vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle andto determine if a collision between the detected vehicle and theequipped vehicle is pending, takes into account distance from theequipped vehicle to the detected vehicle in determining whether or notthe vehicle may harm a driver and/or passenger of the equipped vehicleif an impact occurs.
 23. The safety system of claim 19, wherein saidimaging sensor is configured to be disposed at a rearward portion of theequipped vehicle, and wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at therearward portion of the equipped vehicle, said image processor processesimage data captured by said imaging sensor to detect the vehicleexterior the equipped vehicle and approaching from rearward of theequipped vehicle.
 24. The safety system of claim 23, wherein an alert orsignal indicative of an imminent collision or impact is generatedresponsive to determination of a pending collision with the detectedvehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and approaching from rearward ofthe equipped vehicle.
 25. A safety system for a vehicle, said safetysystem comprising: an imaging sensor configured to be disposed at avehicle equipped with said safety system so as to have a field of viewexterior of the equipped vehicle; wherein said imaging sensor isconfigured to be disposed at a rearward portion of the equipped vehicleor a forward portion of the equipped vehicle; wherein said imagingsensor comprises a CMOS imaging sensor; said imaging sensor, with saidimaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, capturing image data;an image processor operable to process image data captured, with saidimaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, by said imaging sensorto detect a vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if acollision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending; wherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, and responsive at least in part to processing by said imageprocessor of image data captured by said imaging sensor, and responsiveto such determination of the pending collision with a reverse gear ofthe vehicle not engaged, a safety feature of the vehicle is triggeredbefore impact occurs; wherein the triggered safety feature comprises areversible feature selected from the group consisting of (i) areversible adjustment of a seat headrest of the equipped vehicle to anadjusted condition, (ii) a reversible adjustment of a seat belt of theequipped vehicle to an adjusted condition and (iii) a reversibleadjustment of a seat setting of the equipped vehicle to an adjustedcondition; wherein, if the pending collision is avoided or otherwisedoes not occur, the adjusted safety feature returns to its unadjustedcondition that existed prior to such determination of the pendingcollision; wherein operation of the safety feature changes when thereverse gear of the vehicle is engaged; wherein said image processor,with said imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, and whenprocessing image data captured by said imaging sensor to detect thevehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if a collisionbetween the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, takesinto account if a determined impact speed of the detected vehiclerelative to the equipped vehicle is above a threshold level; andwherein, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, indetermining if a collision between the detected vehicle and the equippedvehicle is pending, captured image data is fused with data captured by asensing system of the equipped vehicle.
 26. The safety system of claim25, wherein said sensing system of the equipped vehicle comprises anultrasonic sensing system.
 27. The safety system of claim 25, whereinsaid image processor, with said imaging sensor disposed at the equippedvehicle, and when processing image data captured by said imaging sensorto detect the vehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine ifa collision between the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle ispending, takes into account rate of approach to the equipped vehicle ofthe detected vehicle in determining whether or not the vehicle may harma driver and/or passenger of the equipped vehicle if an impact occurs.28. The safety system of claim 25, wherein said image processor, withsaid imaging sensor disposed at the equipped vehicle, and whenprocessing image data captured by said imaging sensor to detect thevehicle exterior the equipped vehicle and to determine if a collisionbetween the detected vehicle and the equipped vehicle is pending, takesinto account distance from the equipped vehicle to the detected vehiclein determining whether or not the vehicle may harm a driver and/orpassenger of the equipped vehicle if an impact occurs.
 29. The safetysystem of claim 25, wherein said imaging sensor is configured to bedisposed at a rearward portion of the equipped vehicle, and wherein,with said imaging sensor disposed at the rearward portion of theequipped vehicle, said image processor processes image data captured bysaid imaging sensor to detect the vehicle exterior the equipped vehicleand approaching from rearward of the equipped vehicle.
 30. The safetysystem of claim 29, wherein an alert or signal indicative of an imminentcollision or impact is generated responsive to determination of apending collision with the detected vehicle exterior the equippedvehicle and approaching from rearward of the equipped vehicle.